Whenever the plate is pulled out of a piano, the V-bar or capo d'astro is going to be polished for strings to pass by smoothly. The V-bar on this piano is very rusty. We are going to make it shiny. To better observe the polishing process, the top of the V-bar is painted with a thick marker.

These leather buttons can be used on pianos, furniture, and wherever a vintage presentation is preferred. The process is guided by the shop owner Mr. Jude Reveley. The idea was initiated by piano technician Jonathan Tetzlaff following the Steinway piano tradition.

Each time installing or gluing on keyend felt, something new is learned. The result is never perfect nor ideal. At least for me, it is ideal if the result can be improved each time. "Ideal", for now, means the felt width follows the shape of the keyend exactly,  not rubbing each other after returning the keys to the key frame.

This is still a practice, to develop a feeling of the hammers. The shop owner Mr. Jude Reveley will voice these hammers in piano after they are hung, the action fully assembled, and the piano fine tuned. The manual from Renner USA can be found here. 

The procedure is guided by shop owner Mr. Jude Reveley. Tool sharpening and use of hand force on chisels is taught by Mr. John Cameron. This is my second practice in the 8 years of working at Absolute Piano Restoration and the third in my entire life. Hopefully the next one could be a little better. My deep gratitude for these two dedicated masters.

According to Renner USA, the balancier center pin friction is between 6 and 8 grams. On this new set of wippens, the friction is about 1 to 2 grams. Re-pinning is needed. During the procedure, the rep-spring will be in the way, a small hook can be made out of piano wire or a paper clip to pull the spring out of the way.

Often times, the center pin bushing cloth is treated with a certain chemical from manufacturer which may cause increased centerpin-bushing friction through time and usage. Re-pinning helps prevent this problem.

This is a trial. A better process is yet to be developed with advice from colleagues and professionals.

The process was initially orally instructed by our shop owner Mr. Jude Reveley. On the first time, it was done with a drill press. But the drill press table is only so long. The holes at and near the two ends of keyframe are hard to drill straight or perpendicular to the keyframe. This is the second time of glider studs installation. It is done by hand. Hopefully a more accurate and efficient way or ways can be developed through time and with advice from colleagues and professionals. 

The Blüthner piano nosebolt nuts require a special ​spanner for extraction. One nut has two slots as shown in pictures. 

The raviolis in pedal boxes are usually beat up and full of dust, upon which the back of a pedal rests. To make new ones, we need: 

On older pianos, we often hear and see the hammers bouncing on the strings like little bobbleheads. Here are a few causes and fix on an old Baldwin grand piano. Each piano may take different approaches of problem solving. 

The fallboard rod holder on this spinet snapped into two pieces. The piano part suppliers don't sell replacements anymore. My mentor Debbie Cyr and good technician friend Hillary York came up with the idea of rod/pipe holders at handwear stores. So here is the adventure.

A Steinway piano technician asked our shop to rebuild his client's piano. He required that the parts to be traditional Steinway parts instead of the WNG parts which we usually use. For this unique request, the shop owner Mr. Jude Reveley ordered parts from both Steinway factory and Schaff Piano Supply. I believe, to contact Steinway, one may need to email [email protected] to see the catalogue and price.